(Newser)
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Junior Seau bulldozed his way through 20 seasons in the NFL as one of the game's fiercest competitors and elite linebackers. Yesterday, he was inducted into Canton for his efforts—three years after he killed himself and was subsequently found to have degenerative brain disease linked to all those blows to his head—and instead of his daughter, Sydney Seau, giving his speech as he'd wanted, there was silence as the Hall of Fame stuck to its refusal to allow speeches on behalf of dead players. Instead, Sydney Seau recorded her speech in her hotel room and the New York Times gives her the platform. Excerpts:

"He was basically superhuman. On the field he was relentless, hard-hitting, passionate and unstoppable. Off the field he was caring, gentle, hilarious and generous. But I think what we tend to forget about our favorite invincible, unstoppable, indestructible superhumans is the minor detail that they are also human. That is something that we all must endure today without his physical presence."

"May 2, 2012, we all endured a loss. Thousands lost their all-time favorite linebacker, hundreds lost their favorite Charger, tens lost their buddy, and four lost their father. The reason why this honor is so hard to accept is because we had always envisioned him still being here to accept it."

"I miss his huge mangled hands strumming on his uke, playing the only five chords he knew, to the hundreds of songs he would attempt to sing off-key. I miss him calling me Beau, my girlie middle name, and I miss him hugging me too long and too tightly, almost to the point where I couldn’t breathe."